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New England Winter for a Desert Volvo? Topic is solved

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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June
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Re: New England Winter for a Desert Volvo?

Post by June »

viper69 wrote: 22 Nov 2018, 19:46
oragex wrote: 22 Nov 2018, 19:28 The 'coldest' one seems to be a Rain-x on Walmart USA. There may some marketing opportunities for Alaska perhaps :)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rain-x-30f-D ... /187143633

Agreed, I just found the purple one from them a minute ago. They make 2 orange variants rated about -25, one with a de-ICER, and One without I think.


But up in Canada RainX did sell a -40 version at one point via WalMart.
I've used the orange one from RainX for years during winter. It works great and smells good. Here it says good to -25°. Also RainX products seem to prevent wiper chatter. So +1 for RainX. June
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My Volvo cars owned
1989 740 GLT ordered
1994 850 4door standard shift ordered
1996 960 ordered
1998 S90 ordered totalled after 3 weeks
1998 V70 GT dealer stock car
2002 S80 T6 ordered totalled
2004 S80 T6 dealer stock car and current car owned

viper69
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Post by viper69 »

June wrote: 22 Nov 2018, 20:03
viper69 wrote: 22 Nov 2018, 19:46
oragex wrote: 22 Nov 2018, 19:28 The 'coldest' one seems to be a Rain-x on Walmart USA. There may some marketing opportunities for Alaska perhaps :)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rain-x-30f-D ... /187143633
Thanks! I’ve only used the green RainX, but went to store tonight and picked up the exact one you showed


Agreed, I just found the purple one from them a minute ago. They make 2 orange variants rated about -25, one with a de-ICER, and One without I think.


But up in Canada RainX did sell a -40 version at one point via WalMart.
I've used the orange one from RainX for years during winter. It works great and smells good. Here it says good to -25°. Also RainX products seem to prevent wiper chatter. So +1 for RainX. June
Picked up two of those tonight!
Volvo 850 GLT 1995

5 Speed Manual transmission

122,500 miles and barely broken in

Previous:
'82 Volvo DL Wagon, 4 speed manual
'77 Saab 99 EMS, 4 speed manual

Dave in Maine
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Post by Dave in Maine »

1. Get some winter wiper blades. These have a sort of rubber boot covering all the parts that connect the blade proper to the wiper arm. It makes for a cleaner, neater setup. They're also designed for the colder temps, to remain flexible.
2. Add a survival kit to your trunk. Sleeping bag, hat, scarf, some high-cal non-perishable food, flashlights, maybe a candle or two and lighter. It is very easy to get stuck in a very bad situation when it snows. I also carry a pair of heavy-duty towing straps and a comealong.
3. Add a full-sized snow shovel to your trunk. I cut a couple inches off the handle so it would fit in my car. It makes a huge difference getting out of snowbanks or whatever. Since it's usually just me in the car, I generally stow the shovel behind the front seat.
4. Buy two snow scraper-brushes and one ice-only scraper. I keep one snow scraper-brush inside the door of my house and the other in the car. That way I can clean the snow off the outside of the car without opening the door to get the brush out (and dumping snow into the car). The ice-only scraper and other snow scraper-brush I leave in the car for use elsewhere.
5. Add a USB charger plug thing that you can stick in your lighter socket, as well as a new cord that will connect it to your phone.
6. Keep a good pair of mittens in the passenger compartment of the car. I use the military-style "trigger-finger" mittens with leather/canvas shells and long gauntlets that go to the elbow, and wool liners. The shells keep you hands dry, the liners keep them warm. You can drive wearing these. Mine are Swedish surplus, straight out of arsenal stock and far better than the US version. There are few things worse than cold hands, one being frostbite. Depending on where you go in New England, well-below-zero temperatures are something you can count on meeting. In those temperatures losing most dexterity comes rapidly and frostbite is possible.
7. If your car is that nice, consider buying a beater for the winter and leave the nice car under a cover or inside.
1996 850 Turbo Gold Edition, 7 years' reliable service and >220k mi, sadly now gone
2009 S60 2.5T, sent away after taking me down Via Dolorosa. Happy to be rid of it.

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June
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Post by June »

Dave in Maine is correct. I had all but forgot about snowshuvels and ice scrapers! Also whatever car you use during the winter it is important to always keep the fuel tank topped off full when storms are expected and not below 2/3 all winter. If you get stuck and need the heater during a storm you want pleanty of fuel. June
My Volvo cars owned
1989 740 GLT ordered
1994 850 4door standard shift ordered
1996 960 ordered
1998 S90 ordered totalled after 3 weeks
1998 V70 GT dealer stock car
2002 S80 T6 ordered totalled
2004 S80 T6 dealer stock car and current car owned

viper69
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Post by viper69 »

Thanks people!
Volvo 850 GLT 1995

5 Speed Manual transmission

122,500 miles and barely broken in

Previous:
'82 Volvo DL Wagon, 4 speed manual
'77 Saab 99 EMS, 4 speed manual

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BEJinFbk
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Post by BEJinFbk »

June wrote: 23 Nov 2018, 07:09 Dave in Maine is correct. I had all but forgot about snowshuvels and ice scrapers! Also whatever car you use during the winter it is important to always keep the fuel tank topped off full when storms are expected and not below 2/3 all winter. If you get stuck and need the heater during a storm you want pleanty of fuel. June
+1 on plenty of gas!
'98 V70 R - Well Equipped for Life Up North... ;)

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Post by abscate »

You should keep dry gas , or methanol , in case you get a tank of gas with water in it.

You need snow tires on all four wheels. “ All season tires “ are not snow tires.

You should have a tow strap so that you can both be pulled out and pull others out if they get stuck. Chain is best , but strap is more practical.

If you keep a small air compressor in your car, you can let your air out of your tires to get unstuck from slush, then pump them back up.

Fuel tank never below 1/4 in winter. 1/4 tank will idle all night.
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Post by wizechatmgr »

Make sure all defrosters work, including the rear & mirrors. Makes life so much easier when they work.
Wisdom requires knowledge as a prerequisite, but knowledge can be developed due to a lack of wisdom.
In order to learn how to fix something, you must first learn how to break it.
1999 V70 XC AWD 2.4 T -- ~231k miles
1998 V70 2.4 NA -- ~184k miles

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BEJinFbk
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Post by BEJinFbk »

I can't believe that no one's mentioned heated seats.
LOVE the Heated Seats! Just enjoying them earlier today... 8)
'98 V70 R - Well Equipped for Life Up North... ;)

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wizechatmgr
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Post by wizechatmgr »

BEJinFbk wrote: 24 Nov 2018, 00:18 I can't believe that no one's mentioned heated seats.
LOVE the Heated Seats! Just enjoying them earlier today... 8)
Love the heated 3rd seat =)
Wisdom requires knowledge as a prerequisite, but knowledge can be developed due to a lack of wisdom.
In order to learn how to fix something, you must first learn how to break it.
1999 V70 XC AWD 2.4 T -- ~231k miles
1998 V70 2.4 NA -- ~184k miles

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